ce and Monckton and Murray and Boscawen and the
other English generals sent to conduct the campaign in Acadia, the
question was what to do with the French habitants. Let two facts be
distinctly stated here and with great emphasis: first, the colonial
officers, like Winslow from Massachusetts, knew absolutely nothing of
the English officers' plans; they were not admitted to the conferences
of the English officers and were simply expected to obey orders;
second, the English government knew absolutely nothing of the English
officers' course till it was too late for remedy. In fact, later
dispatches of that year inquire sharply what Lawrence meant by an
obscure threat to drive the Acadians out of the country.

[Illustration: GENERAL JOHN WINSLOW]

Did a darker and more sinister motive underlie the policy of Lawrence
and his friends? Poems, novels, histories have waged war of words over
this. Only the facts can be stated. Land to the extent of twenty
thousand acres each, which had belonged to {235} the Acadians, was
ultimately deeded to Lawrence and his friends. Charges of corruption
against Lawrence himself were lodged with the British government both
by mail and by personal delegates from Halifax. Unfortunately Lawrence
died in Halifax in 1760 before the investigation could take place; and
whether true or false, the odium of the charges rests upon his fame.

What he did with the Acadians is too well known to require telling. In
secret conclave the infamous edict was pronounced. Quickly messengers
were sent with secret dispatches to the officers of land forces and
ships at Annapolis, at Mines, at Chignecto, to repair to the towns of
the Acadians, where, upon opening their dispatches, they would find
their orders, which were to be kept a secret among the officers. The
colonial officers, on reading the orders, were simply astounded. "It
is the most grievous affair that ever I was in, in my life," declared
Winslow. The edict was that every man, woman, and child of the
Acadians should be forcibly deported, in Lawrence's words, "in such a
way as to prevent the reunion of the colonists." The men of the
Acadian settlements were summoned to the churches to hear the will of
the King of England. Once inside, doors were locked, English soldiers
placed on guard with leveled bayonet, and the edict read by an officer
standing on the pulpit stairs or on a table. The Acadians were snared
like rats in a trap. Outside were